Fabian's Torment
by PhantomRoses397
Summary: One- shot, Season 2, episode "House of Phantoms/ House of Surrender". When Nina drops through the floor in the Senet chamber, what do things look like from Fabian's perspective? Read and review please! :


The rumbling started. The jackal headed guard turned to face Nina and my heart stopped. _No, please, no._

She gasped and even though her back was to me, I could still see her shoulders trembling. "Fabian," she whimpered, her voice shaking. "What do I do now?" The last syllable echoed off the chamber walls as she dropped through the floor and disappeared.

My entire being rebelled at the thought that my darling Nina was gone- just like that. "NINA!" I screamed, stretching out my arm desperately. As if I could somehow grab her and pull her back to me, where it was safe. But it was too late. She was gone.

"NO!" Patricia screamed as Amber and Alfie both looked towards the spot where Nina last was with expressions of horror on their faces. I cried out with frustration and slammed my hand hard against the arm of the chair.

"Where did she go?" Amber asked into the air, knowing full well that none of us had the answer. "Nina?" she called toward the floor, her voice quivering.

I put my head in my hands as the tears started to flow. A raw sob erupted from my chest. I could hear the others calling out Nina's name frantically, but their voices were faint compared to the rushing of blood in my ears. _What have I done? What have I done? What have I done? _ The words kept repeating in my head over and over. It was the only thing I could think, the only coherent sentence my brain was able to string together to express at least a portion of the grief, shock, and self-hatred I was suddenly feeling.

_ This is all my fault. I've failed her. She's gone._

A rushing flow of emotion swelled in my chest and I could barely keep it from breaking out and spilling over. It was like there was a dam in my heart, preventing the raging current from breaking free and flooding everything in sight. Pressure built up behind my eyes so I could barely see.

Giving up on calling Nina's name, Amber turned to me sobbing. "What do we do now? Can I get off the board?" Her voice broke.

"I don't know…" Patricia said, wiping away tears. "Fabian!" she said, giving me a look of utmost sympathy through her tears.

"What have I done?" I breathed, giving voice to my tortuous thoughts. "What have I done?" Voicing what I was thinking quelled the rapids of emotion a little bit, but I could still barely keep from dissolving into a heap on the chamber floor.

"Look, Fabian, it's not your fault, okay?" Patricia said hurriedly, trying to give me the best comfort she could from where she was standing. "Okay, you just need to focus and tell us what to do."

Focus? Focus? She was telling me to _focus? _Focus when Nina, _my _Nina, was gone, dropped through the floor, hurt or possibly dead?

_Calm yourself, Fabian, and get them out, _my rational side said. _You don't want to be responsible for losing anyone else. _

I relented to the voice. "Alright, okay, um," I managed, my voice breaking. I swiped at my eyes and reached for my notebook with all of my observations about the game.

"Fabian!" Alfie breathed, terror on his face. It was obvious that he didn't want to continue playing the game. None of us did.

"Everyone retrace your steps," I said hurriedly. My hands were trembling violently and the papers rustled.

"I can't remember!" Amber nearly wailed, sobbing and hysterical.

"Amber, um, step to your left and then back down the side of the board," I said, my voice sounding strange and thick in my ears.

As soon as they reached the base of the chair, a small gong sounded and the eerie, recorded voice of Robert Frobisher-Smythe resonated within the chamber: _"My warnings ignored, now count the cost. Continue the task and all will be lost .But if fallen friends you wish to reclaim, you have no choice but to finish the game."_

As the meaning of Robert's words sunk in, Amber voiced what all of us were thinking.

"If we carry on we lose everyone, but," she said, swallowing and turning to the rest of us, "If we don't, we're," she struggled to get the words out, "losing her forever."

_Losing her forever…losing her forever…losing her forever…_ Amber's last words reverberated in my ears, bouncing around in the forefront of my thoughts. I instinctively shied away from the prospect of losing Nina _forever. _It couldn't happen, it wouldn't! I swallowed past the lump in my throat as fresh tears spilled down my cheeks. The dam in my chest started to crack and I shuddered.

"Wherever she is, she _must _be okay," Patricia said, trying to comfort me. "Otherwise, why would the message say 'reclaim her'?"

"It doesn't mean she'll be back in one piece, though."

As soon as Alfie said this, the dam broke. The uncontrollable flood of emotion gushed into every part of my body and I sprinted headlong down the tunnel towards the antechamber, not even caring where I was running to. My shoulders shook with irrepressible sobs as I ran, past the reflector task, past the horns we used to play the Song of Hathor, past the alchemy task. The adrenaline contained in the water that was my jumbled feelings carried into my feet, spurring them ever faster. Tears blurred my vision and I stumbled and fell to the floor. I barely felt it. My hands stinging slightly, I scrambled back up and continued to run- away from the Senet board, away from the rest of Sibuna, away from everything that had just happened. I wanted nothing but to run away from the guilt and pain, curl into a ball, and let the rest of the world carry on without Fabian Rutter.

I entered the antechamber and slowed down, gasping for breath. I walked over to the desk in the corner and leaned on it, facing away from the picture of Robert Frobisher-Smythe that hung on the opposite wall. I heard the others come in. I waited until I had gotten control of my rapid breathing before I turned around and looked at them.

"We can't do this anymore, not without Nina! It's finished!" I exclaimed, barely able to form the words.

"NOOOOOOOO!"

We all clutched at our Marks as an unbelievable, burning **pain** shot through them. We whirled around to face the she-demon before us.

"The Chosen One has failed," Senkhara spat, her face contorted in rage. She held out her hands towards us and lighting flashed from the jackal heads on her palms. We all cried out as our Marks burned even brighter, doubling the agony. "I have no further use for you minions!"

"Fabian, do something!" Amber screamed, frantic.

Gritting my teeth against the mind-numbing pain, I fought against its' control. I stepped towards Senkhara. "No, stop! If you harm us, you'll never get the Mask! We'll get her back!" Red and white lights flashed before my eyes and I stumbled. "Just- just think about what you're doing!"

I could see the spirit consider it and decided to push my luck: "I promise, we just need more time!"

"Find her," she said, venomously, "Before Ra crosses the sky thrice over or it _is _finished, just as you say!" She gave us all one last deathly stare then vanished with a crack of thunder. The torturous pain vanished as suddenly as it had come.

I heard the others behind me sigh with relief as they straightened up. But I wasn't paying attention to anything except the image of Senkhara etched into my brain. "Three days," I said, as if in a trance. "We have three days."

"Well why didn't she just say that? Not only is she scary, but she's really annoying!" Alfie complained.

I stood stock still, glaring at the place where Senkhara had been. I then lifted my eyes to the portrait of Frobisher-Smythe that was hanging on the chamber wall. I glared at the picture, wanting to leap through the canvas and strangle the man who had made these tasks so hard. _It's his fault that Nina's gone, _I thought. Then the guilty part of me interrupted. _No, Fabian, it's yours._

I felt Amber tugging on my arm and I allowed her to lead me out of the antechamber. The door slid closed, and shut with the resounding thud of stone on stone, sealing off what had happened in the tunnels and separating me from my precious Nina- possibly forever.


End file.
